Rare friends: A Brazil-US deal may foil China's mineral game

Beijing's rare-earth squeeze may have created an unlikely alliance

- JUAN PABLO SPINETTO

In 1967, a helicopter from United States Steel carrying a team of geologists made an accidental discovery after landing in a remote corner of the Amazon rainforest: a giant iron-ore deposit that would become Carajás, one of the world's richest mineral regions.

The setting today may feel less like an Indiana Jones script, but a similar mining partnership between the US and Brazil could once again take shape—this time around the critical minerals that are roiling modern geopolitics.

As Donald Trump and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva's governments seek to mend their differences, the development of strategic metals like rare earths stands out as an unusual area of shared interest. China's move to weaponize its dominance of the rare earths supply chain in response to Washington's tariffs has opened the door to potential producers, including Brazil, Australia and India. While the US has an ambitious plan to rebuild its own mining industry, Washington will need all the help it can get if it wants to challenge China's near-total dominance. Enter Brazil, a mining powerhouse that's geographically close to the US and home to the world's largest rare-earth reserves after Beijing.